10 years after his death, Andy Brown’s legacy remains little explored

It was on 16 March ,2012 that the incredibly talented Andy Brown passed away.

A fine guitarist, perhaps one of the best lead guitarists of his generation, Andy was a man who lived and meandered through what was a misunderstood space to plain controversial.

Many glance over his music, from his time with Ilanga, solo ventures, that Chiwoniso Ancient Voices album and other spaces he touched such as Alexio Kawara’s iconic Shaina. That guitar riff sends goosebumps even till today.

, Andy aka Godfrey aka Mavunganidze aka Cadia Shoko lived a life full of colour.

There was the great, some of which we have alluded.

But as his sister Queen Mashie once told The Sunday Mail, he would at times see his mother being beaten before he ran away from home.

Perhaps it is against this backdrop where we peer into the turmoil with which his lived. Just over two years ago, one of his daughters Ammara Brown revealed that her father was abusive.

ALSO READ:
I had convinced myself that seeing my father being abusive was just dreams – Ammara Brown on her journey to ‘Tichichema’

That is what we have seen domiciled in public discourse. To this day, everything else is hidden in whispers and murmurs.

Who was his mother? There is Gogo Ntombana Ncube, but her story is so little told. And there is the long held beleAnd since Queen Mashie said his mother had a thing with a white man resulting in his birth, more questions arise given this was 1959.

Much of this will help us understand his political choices more, his relationship with the guitar and many of his misgivings. Even those aberrations are discussed as fact over cold beers at dark bars in Harare to this day. Some are within his private life, while some regale his intransigence at concerts, on stage and otherwise.

That said, not one desires being put on record with what they think.

And in this perhaps are destroyed the lessons, good or bad, from which the present can learn.

Within is beautiful array of music, there is nuance, tragedy, social hegemony or the lack of it, beauty and more. Was his love for rhythm and fusion, gelling different sounds an attempt to make sense of his whirlwind existence?

That said, in an interview with Gary Thompson, Andy shirked the word controversial to describe himself.

He said, “People say anything they like.”

Pressed further Andy added, “Maybe I’m outspoken. Maybe I play the guitar harshly. Or I’m just an aggressive person, sometimes.”

Perhaps there is a lot in that with which we should find comfort and understanding. He was with passion, driven, human.

While we search for his legacy, a deeper understanding of it, we will enjoy his ‘outspoken, harsh and aggressive expression’.

For that is all we have for now.